


Touch

by FawkesFire13



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25435246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FawkesFire13/pseuds/FawkesFire13
Summary: I was asked to write a “moment” from Tora’s POV from MPL. Again, this is just for fun, and to maybe give more characters a internal voice.Hope everyone enjoys it.
Relationships: Tora/Poppy
Comments: 38
Kudos: 119





	Touch

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out to my ladies in the MPL RAMBLING chat. Love you all. Hope you enjoy this.
> 
> Note: there’s some strong language, but I mean, that’s Tora. 
> 
> As always, all characters belong to Lilydusk!

“I’m not going to sit by and watch as you put someone I know in harms way!”

Tora stared down into her earnest, round face, eyes flickering with fire. She was....

Really fucking cute when she got pissed. Like.....really cute. 

Her brows knit together suddenly, as if realizing she might have been courting something far more dangerous than she had planned. He felt the slight tug, and he allowed his grip on her wrist to loosen. 

“If you’ll excuse me....”

Crossing his arms, he watched her walk out of the ornate doors. Out of place. Dressed way too casually for Chevy’s. 

When Tora was younger he had watched a tiny, bedraggled kitten square off in an alley against a larger Tom cat. The kitten had arched its back and spat loudly, trying desperately to appear fearless.

Tora had intervened, and scooped the kitten up and brought it back to Alice’s. She hadn’t said a word against it, just showed him where to put a warm bed for it and what to feed it. 

This girl reminded him of that tiny kitten. Spirited, but far too small. 

She too would be fighting an opponent bigger than she was in a unfair fight if she was going to be chasing after one of Scharch’s targets....

It was this thought that made him chase after her, looking around the sidewalks hoping to catch a glimpse of those braids....

Where the fuck was she? She couldn’t have gone that far could she? Maybe she was small enough to duck through crowds easier? Honestly, how else did such a tiny girl survive? 

He caught a flash of braided hair. A scraped knee.

There!

He watched her bump into someone and apologize. 

Then bump into someone else. Apologize.

And she did it a third time. 

Was she capable of walking a straight line?

Aggressively turning his wheel, ignoring the stupid fuck who flipped him off in the next lane, he pulled up along side her on the side walk and rolled down his window:

“HEY!”

She froze, eyes wide and looked around, as he got out of the car, slamming his door shut. She was red cheeked, hair just starting to look disheveled. 

“Christ, how far have you been running?” He asked, walking towards her. Fucking hell, she was stubborn. He reached for his phone as she began babbling. 

“Not too far.” She said, and he watched a single drop of sweat travel down her forehead to her cheek. “They got into a car but alighted just in front.”

What the hell?

“Ya chased after a fuckin’ car?” What the crap was this girl’s deal?

“I couldn’t get a hold of a cab!” She said, somewhat defensively. “Plus they’re too expensive over here...”

He sighed and dialed Scharch’s number. Ugh. The fucking creep....

“And it was just a short distance....” she was still talking. He watched her lips move, admittedly transfixed. In his ear, Scharch’s phone continued to ring. The annoying fuck....

“Aren’t they friends of yours? Can...can you call them up and ask?”

“What d’ya think I’m doin’ now?” He asked her. She walked up to him. Got in his personal space. Did she have no survival instinct at all? Why would you get that close to someone you didn’t know? 

“Well? What did they say?” She asked, her voice nervous. Scharch wanted this guy for a reason. Probably not a reason she was going to like. Tora had never been one to play with his prey if he could help it. Scharch got his jollies from tortured screaming. 

Sick bastard.

“They’re not picking up.” He glanced down at her. How the fuck did her eyes look so huge? Or maybe it was just because she was so small? 

“IS HE IN DANGER?” She asked urgently, her eyes becoming dangerously large. He wasn’t sure he had ever encountered someone with eyes so enormous. “DON’T TELL ME YOU GUYS BELONG TO SOME HUMAN-“she stopped suddenly, as if realizing what she was about to blurt out and Tora felt his jaw tighten. Yeah, he knew exactly what she thought. She wasn’t exactly.....wrong. 

Didn’t mean he liked it.

Fucker still wasn’t picking up his phone. Whoever this guy was that she was after could very well be in serious trouble.

What else was new?

Scharch picked targets out of boredom. The guy was fucking unhinged, even by Tora’s personal standards. Looking down at her again, he decided she didn’t need to know that. 

“We’re not friends. We just work together.” Tora explained, putting his phone away. He glanced around, looking for any sign of Scharch. What did that asshole want with the old guy anyway? He reached out and took hold of her arm, hoping she wouldn’t run off again. They’d get farther in his car. The area was crowded with people shopping and just going about their day. If Scharch was nearby they would need to be able to cover more ground.

“They can’t have left this area so quickly on foot.” He explained, still looking up the street, scanning the crowd. “Get in my car.”

“You car?” She asked. Tora rolled his eyes just slightly. Did she think they were just gonna walk around all day looking for Scharch? “By your ‘car’ do you mean.....the one that’s being towed away?”

Towed away? What? No his car was right...

Tora turned quickly, watching the front of his car get lifted onto the back of a tow truck. 

WHAT. THE. FUCK?

She was saying something about never seeing a car get towed, and how fast they were in towing cars, worrying about the expense.

For a horrible moment he just didn’t register that this shit was happening. Broad fucking daylight and some asshole was towing his car. The words were still forming in his head when the truck pulled away, leaving them both staring stupidly after. 

Then instinct kicked in and he ran.

Running in a suit is complete fucking bullshit. James Bond makes that look easy, but it’s just such utter shit.

Running in dress shoes is also complete shit. It’s why he fucking hated formal wear in the first place. You couldn’t get anything done. At all.

Not only that he was towing this tiny little cutie with him and her legs were way shorter than his. The tailored suit hindered his body’s movement. All that time in cardio and training and it meant absolute piss all when his own fucking clothes were fighting him.

Bull. Shit.

The absolute fucking insanity of this moment wasn’t lost on him as he tore down the street, dragging her behind him.

“GET BACK HERE WITH MY MOTHERFUCKING CAR OR I’LL TEAR YOUR-“ he let loose his anger at full volume, ignoring the surprised stares of the people around them. He could hear her small panting sounds. For a half second he felt bad, but then he saw the tow truck pick up speed and he pushed them both harder.

“HOW MUCH MORE DO WE HAVE TO RUN?!” Her voice was exhausted. Tora slowed and finally stopped, watching his car disappear around a corner.

“Your leg. Is it okay?” He asked, forcing himself to calm down. It wasn’t her fault his car was being towed. Wasn’t her fault her legs were so much shorter. 

“Wait a second...” she was panting. Truth be told he wasn’t feeling too great himself. Not from the run. No, he had more endurance than that, but fuck these shoes for running. God fucking damnit all to the 9th circle of hell. 

FUCK.

Dress shoes were fucking bullshit. Why the fuck did people bother with them?

“Goddamnit. If I ever find the motherfucker that did this....” he spat, resting his hands on his hips. Fuck this day just sucked. He could feel sweat dripping down his neck and his back. Yeah. Fuck this entire fucking day. 

“HE’S OVER THERE!”

“Wha-?” He turned quickly to look at her.

She was saying something about a gift shop. What the hell was she saying?

“THEY’RE GETTING INTO A CAR AGAIN!!” He glanced up and saw Scharch’s smug ass disappearing into a car.

Creepy fuck.

For a single moment Tora tried to find the words to convince her to not go tearing off down the street again. But oh no....no no. This little feisty thing had other plans.

“There! That’s where they could be heading!” 

And she was off. A whirl of braids, scraped knees and cuteness. 

“WHERE ARE YA RUNNIN’ OFF TO?!” He yelled. The hell? She could still run?? Where was she getting all that energy from?

“I KNOW WHERE THEY’RE HEADING! ITS THAT PURPLE BUILDING! THE EASTERN CENTER OF COMMERCE BUILDING!” She yelled, taking off like a shot. Tora watched her short legs carry her down the sidewalk, utterly mystified. Then he glanced around, trying to locate what building she was talking about. He spotted the massive purple building. Frowning he tried to recall what that area of Narin looked like. There were some walkways that might lead there....

Hmm.

Definitely wouldn’t make it there by foot...unless there was that one path....

He took a few quick strides and grabbed her wrist, determined to not loose her again. Weird little hamster was going to run into traffic with her single minded determination...

“I know a short cut we can take.” He told her, walking quickly. 

“To the purple building?” She asked him. He could feel her eyes on his face. What did she think of him? 

“Yeah.”

She was.....so very small. For some reason that kept getting caught in his mind. She was cute. Really cute. 

“Everyone says it’s blue, but it’s fucking purple to me. They’re all fucking idiots.” He muttered leading her up what he recalled as the correct staircase behind a shopping center. 

“I agree!” Her voice still sounded a little breathless. Tora slowed just a bit. “Wow! These steps sure are steep!” Was she having a hard time keeping up? “I haven’t climbed this many stairs in the city. It’s all escalators and elevators.” 

He stopped moving. Okay. They could take a moment. No need to have her be uncomfortable. She took a few steps past him and stopped. He took out his phone and opened up that map app, like what Gyu had shown him before. Stupid bullshit technology.

“How much further do we have to travel?” She asked, turning to look at him when she realized he wasn’t moving. 

“I’m checkin’ the map.” He answered. He didn’t need to, not really. Narin and all its back alleys were like a second home to him. He knew his way around, but she needed a moment to rest. “Been a while since I’ve used this route. Wanna be sure they didn’t change anythin.’” Tora added, tapping open what looked like the right app. It wasn’t. 

He frowned. Stupid phone. New fucking models coming out every other fucking week.

“Ah. Okay. Take your time.” Her voice was soft. He nodded, eyes still focused on the phone screen. Which one of these stupid pictures was the map thing again?

“Ya’ might as well catch a breather while we’re here. Traffic over there is bad at this hour.” Complete truth. “They won’t be gettin’ that far.”

“Yeah. A breather sounds good.” He heard her small footsteps come down a couple stairs and felt her stop in front of him.

Tora had sharp senses. You had to have them in his line of work. They kept you alive. As he stared down at his phone, he snuck a quick glance her her feet. Tiny beige sneakers. 

Frowning he looked to his phone again, thankful for the light breeze. It was cooling the heat from his neck and drying the sweat. Not ideal, but he could grab a shower later.

With the breeze he caught her scent. A soft floral scent, with a very light hint of sweetness. It filled his head for a split second, startling him. What was that smell? Her shampoo? Perfume? Hastily he fumbled for something to say, she was standing right in front of him. 

“Christ.....”he muttered. “How the hell do you use this damn....google map thing?”

He felt it, body tightening instinctively before he was able to fully react.

A feather light touch, touching strands of his hair, and her tiny warm fingers grazing the side of his head as she tucked the loose hair behind his ear. Her hand grazed the side of his face, and he lifted his wide eyed gaze to her.

Her face was only inches from his, enormous doe eyes staring directly into his own. Like she could see straight into his soul. How long since someone looked into his eyes like that?

Just....

Seeing him.

Not turning away in fear. Not doing that polite averted gaze you did when you catch a stranger’s eyes in public. She was staring into him. He had been told many times his own amber eyes were unnerving. Wasn’t like he had a choice in eye color. But he knew that they could make people uncomfortable. Wasn’t his fault...

For a moment he wasn’t Tora, Tiger of Ares Street.

He was just....

Himself.

Tora felt his heart stutter for a moment. She was...gorgeous. Something about her....unapologetic sweetness. She didn’t wear a mask over her face. She wasn’t hiding anything....

Her finger lingered a split second longer before it dropped and he felt his pulse in his ear, his skin tingling from where she had touched him. The softness from the pad of her finger and the lightest scrap of her nail...whisper soft. 

How....did she?

People didn’t just casually touch him. He didn’t allow it. If people wanted to touch him, it was normally because they had harmful intentions. This gentle touch was something....

He couldn’t really remember experiencing. Not a gentle touch. A human touch. Not since before Vincent had chosen him....

Tora stared, and watched her blink at him once, almost owlishly. 

His heart pounded. 

Ba-dump

He could feel it. 

Was painfully aware of his own pulse.

“.....ah.”


End file.
